Introduction to Classical and New Testament Greek: A Unified Approach

by Michael Boler
Catholic University of America Press, 2020
Paper: 978-1-949822-02-1, eISBN: 978-1-949822-03-8

ABOUT THIS BOOK
The defining feature of this textbook is the treatment of classical and New Testament Greek as one language using primary sources. All the example sentences the students will translate are real Greek sentences, half of which are taken from classical literature and philosophy and half of which are directly from the New Testament. The advantage of this approach is that it highlights the linguistic, literary, and historical connections between classical Greece and early Christianity. Rather than having students memorize isolated tables and artificial sentences, Michael Boler spent years combing through thousands of pages of literature, philosophy, and scripture to find short, powerful sentences that not only teach the grammatical concepts in each chapter, but also contain seeds of wisdom that will spark wonder and discussion.

Introduction to New Testament and Classical Greek is born out of classroom experience in a Catholic liberal arts university whose students were disappointed to be forced to choose between textbooks that taught classical Greek in isolation and ones that focused exclusively on the New Testament. By the end of this book, students will have read over 200 lines of scripture and an equal amount of ancient literature from Homer to Aristotle. They will also have the grammatical knowledge to continue to read classical and New Testament Greek. Each chapter contains a section at the end that delves deeply into the etymology and background of the words and passages encountered in the respective chapter. Professors will thus be able to use these chapters as a bridge to philosophical, theological, historical, and literary topics that will enrich the class.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Introduction
Acknowledgments
The Alphabet
Diphthongs
Subscripts
Accents
Punctuation
Capitalization
Nouns
The Definite Article
The Verb
εἰμί = To Be
Nouns: The Case System
Adjectives
Verbs
Present Active Indicative
Present Active Imperative
Personal Pronouns: 1st and 2nd Person
Dative of Indirect Object
Dative of Respect
Objective Genitive
Prepositions
Substantive Adjectives
αὐτός
1st Declension Nouns Continued
Infinitives: Complementary Infinitive, Articular Infinitive
Elision
Nouns: 3rd Declension
Adjectives: 3rd Declension
Mixed Declension Adjectives
Irregular Adjectives πᾶς, πολύς, and μέγας
Adverbs
Sentences, Clauses, and Phrases
Relative Pronouns and Relative Clauses
μέν... δέ
Future Tense
Principal Parts of the Verb
Direct and Indirect Statements
Expressing Past Time in Greek
Imperfect Tense
Aorist Tense
Aorist Active Imperative
Imperfect of εἰμί
Indirect Statement in the Past and Future
Time Constructions
The Middle and Passive Voice
Genitive of Agent (with ὑπό)
Present and Imperfect Middle/Passive
Deponent Verbs
Aorist Middle
Future of εἰμί
Aorist Passive
Future Passive
Crasis
Irregular Aorists
Irregular Verbs
Demonstratives
Introduction to Participles
Attributive Participle
Circumstantial Participle
Supplementary Participle
Participle in Indirect Statement
Genitive Absolute
Numbers
Result Clauses
Degrees of Adjectives: Positive, Comparative, Superlative
Comparative and Superlative Adverbs
Dative of Degree of Difference
Introduction to Contract Verbs
Epsilon Contract Verbs
Liquid Futures
Dative of Means
Alpha Contract Verbs
Interrogative Pronouns
Indefinite Pronouns
Omicron Contract Verbs
Dative of Possession
Participles of Contract Verbs
The Perfect Tense
οἶδα = To Know
Indirect Questions
Perfect Middle/Passive
Dative of Agent
Pluperfect and Future Perfect
Reflexive Pronoun
μι Verbs: Present Tense and Imperfect Tense
μι Verbs: Aorist Tense
The Subjunctive
Independent Uses of the Subjunctive
Purpose Clauses
The Optative
Independent Uses of the Optative
Simple Conditions
Future Conditions
Substitutions for εἰ
Mixed Conditions
General Conditions
Unreal Conditions
Unattainable Wish
Object Clauses of Effort, Fear, and Caution
Accusative Absolute
Accusative of Respect
Verbal Adjectives in –τέος, –τέα, –τέον
Cautious Assertions and Cautious Denials
Emphatic Denials and Prohibitions
Sequence of Moods
Temporal Clauses
Appendix A. Morphology
Nouns
Clauses and Phrases
Appendix C. Rules of Accentuation
Appendix D. The Dual
Appendix E. ὡς
Appendix F. How to Read a Greek Sentence
Appendix G. Supplementary Exercises
Suggestions for Further Reading
Vocabulary

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